New JavaScript spam wave distributes Locky ransomware

Over the past week, computers throughout Europe and other places have been hit by a massive email spam campaign carrying malicious JavaScript attachments that install the Locky ransomware program.

Antivirus firm ESET has observed a spike in detections of JS/Danger.ScriptAttachment, a malware downloader written in JavaScript that started on May 22 and peaked on May 25.

Many countries in Europe have been affected, with the highest detection rates being observed in Luxembourg (67 percent), the Czech Republic (60 percent), Austria (57 percent), the Netherlands (54 percent) and the U.K. (51 percent). The company's telemetry data also showed significant detection rates for this threat in Canada and the U.S.